The U.S. intelligence community is ramping up efforts to protect the 2026 midterm elections from foreign manipulation. This initiative occurs even as scrutiny surrounds ongoing probes into debunked claims of fraud in the 2020 election. **ODNI Appoints Election Threat Executives** Director of National Intelligence **Tulsi Gabbard** has appointed **Dave Mastro** from the National Intelligence Council and **James Cangialosi**, the deputy chief of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, to jointly coordinate efforts across U.S. spy agencies. They will serve as the intelligence community’s election threats executive. The position, created during President Donald Trump’s first term, is responsible for convening an interagency group to evaluate and publicize evidence of foreign meddling. Mastro and Cangialosi recently reaffirmed the intelligence community’s commitment to safeguarding the midterms during closed-door briefings for House and Senate Intelligence committee aides. They also stated that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (**ODNI**) would adhere to the existing notification framework for foreign interference in U.S. elections. **Controversy Surrounds 2020 Election Re-examination** Gabbard's role in re-examining the 2020 election has drawn criticism. Her presence during an **FBI** raid on a Georgia election office in January, related to unproven theories of election theft, sparked outrage from Democratic lawmakers. It was also reported that her office seized voting machines in Puerto Rico last year, which her office insisted was to assess security vulnerabilities, not tied to a specific election. **Concerns Over CISA Cuts and AI Threat** Concerns are rising about the impact of budget cuts to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (**CISA**), which reduced its workforce by roughly one-third and scaled back election security training and digital security assistance to state and local election officials. Sen. Mark Warner highlighted the potential for artificial intelligence (**AI**) to exacerbate the spread of misinformation and disinformation, posing a significant threat to election integrity. “We've already seen, in countless regards, the ability of AI to spread misinformation and disinformation,” he said. “You put that on steroids behind a Russian, Chinese, even Iranian effort to mess with our elections and that spells trouble, because you've already seen a president that will deny election results.” **Cyber Command and NSA on Alert** U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency (**NSA**) personnel have been instructed to monitor foreign adversary chatter related to U.S. elections. The two entities are expected to reconvene their joint election security group, with proposals outlining plans for the group expected to be sent to Gabbard and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth soon. House Intelligence Committee Chair Rick Crawford emphasized that election interference is an ongoing concern and that foreign adversaries can have a significant influence at the congressional district or state level.